Latest / NDV Podcast: Neurodiverse Voices Connect / 🎙️ Special Episode: NDV Podcast: Neurodiverse Voices at KatieFest 2025 – Celebrating Inclusion Through Rugby 🏉

Transcript

🎙️ Special Episode: NDV Podcast: Neurodiverse Voices at KatieFest 2025 – Celebrating Inclusion Through Rugby 🏉 · NDV Podcast: Neurodiverse Voices Connect

• 0:12
  Hi everyone, I'm here at the Whitney RFC for KT Fest and I'll
• 0:19
  be speaking with a few people who are going to tell me all
• 0:23
  about their experience today and the plans for the future and
• 0:28
  what's going to happen until the next KT Fest in 2026.
• 0:34
  I hope you enjoy it. Hi everyone.
• 0:36
  We are here at the 2025 Katie Fest organized by um Gosford All
• 0:43
  Blacks and Whitney Wolves. And I've got one of my favorites
• 0:47
  and previous guests of the Neuro Diverse Voices podcast with me
• 0:50
  and she's I'm embarrassing her already.
• 0:54
  Hi Leandra. Hello Andrea, Thanks for having
• 0:56
  me. You're very welcome.
• 0:57
  Thanks for agreeing to do a short interview today.
• 1:01
  So today is quite special and I know we do some work at the Cent
• 1:06
  friendly rugby sessions every Sunday in Kidlington at Cosford
• 1:09
  All Blacks. Can you tell us a bit more about
• 1:12
  that and what what has brought to you here of?
• 1:15
  Course. Yeah, so a couple of years ago
• 1:18
  Darren's from the Gosford All Blacks set up Send Friendly
• 1:21
  Rugby Sessions and asked me to just kind of guide him what's
• 1:25
  needed. And it just grew quite rapidly.
• 1:29
  And we hold those sessions every Sunday, 10:50 every week, term
• 1:35
  time. And it's just been a fantastic
• 1:37
  journey. And last year we held the first
• 1:41
  Katie Fest in on. Well, it was Darren's idea and
• 1:46
  it was in honour of one of the coaches from the Whitney and
• 1:51
  Wallingford parents who unfortunately, sadly lost one of
• 1:55
  his children. And so we want to grow this
• 1:58
  community and share this sort of journey with everybody.
• 2:02
  And so we're continuing again this year.
• 2:05
  Yeah, that's, that sounds great. So yeah, if you want to, if
• 2:09
  people want to find out more, what what what should they do so
• 2:12
  they can follow centipedes? Because you keep posting about
• 2:15
  it. I do my own posts supporting the
• 2:19
  rugby but yeah is there. Any there's Gossard, All Blacks,
• 2:22
  there's Wallingford, there's Whitney, we're the local sort of
• 2:26
  Oxfordshire groups and there's going to be A tag festival later
• 2:29
  on in the year. Actually, I think it's next
• 2:31
  month, to be fair, held by the Wooden Charity, Wooden Spring
• 2:36
  Charity, and that will be something similar to today but
• 2:39
  on a larger scale. Yeah, that sounds amazing.
• 2:42
  And how is the atmosphere outside?
• 2:43
  So we are indoors, but you probably can see a bit in the
• 2:46
  background. There's a lot going on and.
• 2:49
  Well, it started all cloudy and I wondered if it was going to
• 2:51
  rain and ruin the day. But no, it's warmed up nicely.
• 2:54
  Everyone's getting on. They've just gone straight to
• 2:56
  it. All the teams seem to be, you
• 2:59
  know, in good spirits. And yeah, the the the vibe is
• 3:04
  good. Yeah, exactly like last year,
• 3:07
  which, yeah, I really find it very family.
• 3:10
  Yeah, friendly. It's very good.
• 3:12
  I came for the first time almost knowing no one last year and I
• 3:15
  felt like I belonged for the whole day and.
• 3:18
  I think every year it will evolve and eventually it will be
• 3:21
  a recognised sort of festival amongst our communities, so that
• 3:24
  would be great. Yeah, it's good.
• 3:26
  So if you want to find out more, you know what to do Thank you.
• 3:29
  Bye bye. This is season 3 of the Neuro
• 3:33
  Diverse Voices podcast. Hi everyone, still at Katy Fest
• 3:39
  in Whitney. And now I've got Derek with me.
• 3:42
  He is involved with the Wooden spoon charity and Oxfordshire
• 3:47
  Freemasons and he's going to tell us more about them because
• 3:51
  I never heard about them before until today.
• 3:54
  So I'm quite curious to know. What Mason or the wooden?
• 3:56
  Spoon both of them, actually. I'm more about wooden spoon
• 3:59
  because that's where I'm represented today, that's I am
• 4:02
  an active member of Oxfordshire Freemasonry.
• 4:06
  I'm fairly new to Wooden spoon, volunteering with my friend
• 4:10
  Steve Murphy who's the new Chairman of Oxfordshire and
• 4:13
  we're looking to to raise awareness amongst the local
• 4:16
  rugby clubs in Oxfordshire of Wooden Spoon and be approachable
• 4:22
  and contactable with good causes that we can support as a
• 4:26
  national charity. It is wooden spoon looking after
• 4:29
  this disabled children in the Rugby World and and further
• 4:34
  afield but but through the rugby family.
• 4:38
  Yeah, and that's on. The other side of things, I am a
• 4:42
  member of the Oxygen Freemasons who host the pantomime project.
• 4:48
  So once a year we take a matinee performance at the Oxford
• 4:53
  Playhouse and we invite children and young adults to come and
• 4:59
  join us, have a day out in an environment that they don't
• 5:04
  usually or would usually be invited to or attend so they can
• 5:09
  relax. Their parents, carers, brothers,
• 5:11
  sisters can relax and we welcome them.
• 5:14
  Several of the the lads dress up as dames and welcome them off
• 5:19
  coaches and taxes and look after them when they arrive.
• 5:23
  Everyone gets fed presents, hats, ice creams and sorbets at
• 5:30
  the at the interval and get sent home with a with a Christmas bag
• 5:33
  and everyone loves it. And for us, a day out, a day
• 5:39
  off, supporting, you know, these guys is, is humbling to the
• 5:45
  extreme. Yeah, that sounds, that sounds
• 5:48
  amazing. So.
• 5:49
  So. It will happen again in around.
• 5:51
  December in December, yeah. And we're looking for, always
• 5:55
  looking for schools and clubs that we maybe haven't approached
• 5:59
  to invite more people to. Come and just.
• 6:03
  To to double check this is for children with special
• 6:06
  educational needs and disabilities.
• 6:08
  Yeah, absolutely, yes. Yeah, that's.
• 6:10
  And, and they're able to relax and do their own thing and
• 6:14
  enjoy, Yeah, the pantomime, which may not have been an
• 6:18
  option. Yeah, so.
• 6:19
  Because not not all environments are safe and.
• 6:24
  Appropriate or welcoming and and understanding.
• 6:27
  Yes, that's that's good. Well, I might take my daughter
• 6:29
  next year. Oh please.
• 6:30
  Yeah, please. Yeah, keep in touch.
• 6:32
  Yeah. Yeah, that'll be great.
• 6:33
  So, Katie Fest, how are you finding today?
• 6:37
  Fantastic. Again, another humbling
• 6:38
  experience to see everybody out there and the weather's so good
• 6:41
  to us today as well, but the guys out there are just having a
• 6:47
  ball really. Excuse the punt a rugby ball.
• 6:50
  Yeah, exactly. I'm looking forward to go
• 6:52
  outside as well and watch a bit more of the activities.
• 6:56
  Yeah. And everybody out there
• 6:58
  supporting as well, having nearly as much fun, which is
• 7:02
  great, really is great. The inclusivity and the
• 7:05
  camaraderie that's being built out there is.
• 7:07
  Fantastic. Yeah, it's great.
• 7:09
  To see, so we're looking to wooden spoon, looking to promote
• 7:12
  this and also the tag Fest in Coventry at the end of May,
• 7:16
  which hopefully most of these guys will go to as well.
• 7:20
  Yeah, which is a national event. That sounds great.
• 7:22
  So if people want to find out more about wooden spoon and also
• 7:26
  the Freemasons, where is there a website where where can they
• 7:30
  find out? For wooden wooden spoon is, is
• 7:32
  the website Freemasonry And yes, again, Oxfordshire Freemasonry,
• 7:39
  there'll be a website for that, you know, always looking,
• 7:43
  looking for members, but it's, it's much easier to apply and we
• 7:48
  are much more open and welcoming them.
• 7:51
  You think and on just on that the money that we raise is only
• 7:56
  beaten in the UK by the National Lottery.
• 7:59
  So Freemasonry gift to charity just behind the National
• 8:04
  Lottery. So, so we're pleased with our
• 8:06
  efforts, but we do need more recruits.
• 8:12
  Yeah, so. Good.
• 8:13
  So if you are looking for volunteering you, you know what
• 8:17
  to do. Derek, thank you very much.
• 8:19
  It has been a great pleasure meeting you and thanks for this
• 8:22
  5 minutes and I'll see you around later.
• 8:24
  Look forward to. It thank you.
• 8:25
  Thank you. This is season 3 of the Neuro
• 8:29
  Diverse Voices podcast. Hi, everyone.
• 8:32
  Still at Katie Fest at Whitney Wolves and now I have another
• 8:36
  one of my previous podcast guests who is also volunteer at
• 8:41
  Gosford All Blacks and she's here to tell me how Katie Fest
• 8:45
  is going today. Hi, Rachel.
• 8:47
  Hi, Andrea again. Nice to see you.
• 8:49
  Nice to see you too. So how is the day going?
• 8:52
  Yeah, it's really lovely and the sun's shining, so yeah, perfect.
• 8:56
  How is the atmosphere out there? Amazing.
• 8:59
  Yeah. As it was last year, just so
• 9:01
  many smiles and the the children and the adults, everybody just
• 9:05
  having a great time. Yeah.
• 9:06
  Any differences when compared to last year?
• 9:11
  It feels kind of a bit calmer maybe, maybe because we've done
• 9:14
  it once before. Everybody's just so happy and
• 9:17
  you know, they were just excited to come here.
• 9:20
  Yeah, yeah, it's as you as you learn things.
• 9:23
  Yeah, definitely easier to to set up.
• 9:26
  I also feel like in here it's a bit smaller.
• 9:29
  So I don't know. I have this feeling of we are
• 9:31
  all a bit closer. Yes, together.
• 9:34
  I definitely feel like it was a bit more spread out last year.
• 9:37
  So yeah, we, it feels like we're, we're easier to kind of
• 9:39
  connect here. So like like you said, you know,
• 9:42
  every year you kind of learn something new and you know how
• 9:45
  to maybe tweak it for the following year.
• 9:47
  So. Yeah, Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 9:49
  Good. So in terms of your volunteering
• 9:52
  and the the contact with with the children and the young
• 9:55
  people, how, how is that going overall?
• 9:59
  Yeah, yeah, still still going. Yeah, I'm still coaching the
• 10:02
  under sevens. I'm still helping Darren with
• 10:04
  the send stuff in the background.
• 10:07
  Yeah. And it's just, it's really
• 10:08
  rewarding. It never changes.
• 10:10
  It's just, yeah, it's a good thing to do.
• 10:12
  Yeah, yeah, it's good. What's next?
• 10:14
  Any future plans or? What for the rugby?
• 10:18
  Well, this we do, it's our last session tomorrow of kind of
• 10:22
  normal rugby and then we break for the summer.
• 10:25
  So I'll be going on to under eights I think, with a bit more
• 10:29
  training for me. Yeah.
• 10:31
  And it's just lovely seeing the same children all the way
• 10:33
  through. And then today, it's been really
• 10:35
  great just really seeing the the send children because they don't
• 10:38
  always get to kind of be the part of that every Sunday.
• 10:41
  So doing this today has just been fantastic for me.
• 10:43
  Yeah. Yeah, it's amazing.
• 10:44
  And what about kid links and? Kid links Yeah, still going the
• 10:50
  same. We, we started our send group
• 10:53
  yesterday after a break for Easter.
• 10:56
  So that was really lovely to see some of our regular families
• 10:58
  back. And hopefully we'll keep growing
• 11:01
  those numbers with that as well, keep spreading the word that
• 11:03
  we're there. And we're hoping to get some
• 11:04
  talkers and as well some speakers.
• 11:07
  So we'll kind of let you know, you know, as and when we get
• 11:09
  some dates for people to come in and do some talks for us.
• 11:11
  Yeah, that's really exciting. And I also know there is a new
• 11:14
  parent supports group as well. Yeah, so we started set up a
• 11:18
  WhatsApp group for that send group.
• 11:21
  So I did it with one of the parents.
• 11:23
  She kind of took ownership of it and she invited all the parents
• 11:26
  to join her WhatsApp group. So for periods like over Easter
• 11:30
  where we don't run the session and they were then able to meet
• 11:33
  up at the park and do stuff together.
• 11:35
  Because I mean, Ash, the, the mum said to me, she said, I want
• 11:38
  to, you know, I've got friends, but I want to be able to meet up
• 11:41
  with people that really understand and kind of get that
• 11:44
  our children don't go through the same developmental
• 11:47
  milestones, for example. So yeah, for them to have that
• 11:51
  extra support I think is a really lovely addition to send
• 11:54
  squirrels. Yeah, that's amazing.
• 11:55
  I'm very, very pleased to hear that it's still going well.
• 11:59
  And yeah, I'm sure you can continue the wing.
• 12:01
  Amazing. Things, hopefully, yeah.
• 12:03
  Hey, anything else you would like to tell us?
• 12:05
  Any. Other news, and not really, I
• 12:09
  mean to this is so nice just to have the the sun and have this
• 12:12
  event happening again. So yeah, I think we're all just
• 12:15
  looking forward to some nice weather being outside and just
• 12:17
  doing as much of this as we can with the children.
• 12:21
  So, yeah, and as you know, with kid links and with the rugby,
• 12:24
  we'll just, we'll have a break from the rugby, but we'll be
• 12:26
  back, you know, stronger than ever in September.
• 12:29
  But I'm sure we'll still be down on that rugby pitch over the
• 12:31
  summer just kicking them all about.
• 12:32
  So we'll always let people know when we're down on that.
• 12:34
  Aaron. Yeah.
• 12:35
  Yeah, that's good. So come along if you if you can.
• 12:39
  And we are already looking forward to OK to Fuel Festival
• 12:42
  next year, which will be in Wallingford I heard.
• 12:45
  Yeah, yeah, it's moving around. Great.
• 12:48
  Thank you so much, Rachel. Always a pleasure to chat to
• 12:50
  you. Thank you.
• 12:52
  This is season 3 of the Neuro Diverse Voices podcast.
• 12:57
  Hi everyone. Still at Katy Fest, at Whitney
• 13:00
  Wolves and now I have Councillor Nigel Simpson here with me.
• 13:06
  Morning. Good morning.
• 13:07
  How are you? Very well indeed, enjoying the
• 13:09
  sunshine. Good.
• 13:10
  Yeah, we were very lucky with the weather today.
• 13:12
  Definitely. So what has brought you to Katy
• 13:15
  Fest and why are you here today? How are you?
• 13:18
  I represent Kidlington north of Kidlington and I attended the
• 13:22
  the one last year as well that was held at Gosford All Blacks
• 13:25
  and Darren very, very well and been very supportive of his
• 13:30
  cause over the last couple of years and and just in the the
• 13:33
  successes had on so many children and their families and
• 13:37
  wouldn't miss it for the world. Yeah, that's that's very
• 13:40
  impressive. And what, what, what, how is the
• 13:43
  environment out there? What have you been watching?
• 13:46
  It's just a real buzz, so many smiles and that from, from
• 13:49
  children and their parents. And that is just a relaxed
• 13:52
  atmosphere as well. And yeah, it's just you can feed
• 13:56
  the feel the energy from everybody on there.
• 13:59
  And they've said they're coming from far and wide now.
• 14:01
  It's not just a a local initiative, it's expanding
• 14:03
  outside of the county as well. Yeah, I totally agree with that.
• 14:07
  And I feel the the yeah, comparing to last year as well
• 14:10
  where where I when I attended it's, it's visible and it's
• 14:15
  amazing to to feel this energy. So as a councillor, and I don't
• 14:20
  know if I can go a bit well, I'm not political at all, but I just
• 14:25
  want to to ask more about your role as a counsellor and.
• 14:29
  So because I chair education scrutiny at Canby Hall and I'm
• 14:33
  shadow cabinet for education. My wife is a Senko.
• 14:37
  OK, So I've, I've got a vested interest in this particular
• 14:41
  subject and that so, and obviously worked a lot with,
• 14:44
  with obviously Leandra and everyone as well over the years.
• 14:48
  Get a better. My, when I first got on the
• 14:50
  council, my understanding of special education needs was, was
• 14:53
  quite small. But over the last four years,
• 14:56
  engaging with families, different groups and that you,
• 14:59
  my understanding is better still so much more to learn because
• 15:02
  you never learn everything, but you need to know a bit about
• 15:05
  everything, different types of neurodiversity and that sort of
• 15:09
  thing. So it's such a big topic and I
• 15:12
  think most counsellors don't really understand it until you,
• 15:16
  unless you live it, then you'll understand it.
• 15:18
  But if you're just reading reports and think, Oh yeah, we
• 15:21
  know, you don't, you need to really live it, to experience it
• 15:25
  and then to fully understand it and to actually engage with
• 15:28
  different sort of parents and the children to understand what
• 15:32
  they go through. Because yeah, they have to deal
• 15:36
  with things in a different way. And but it's a case of how can
• 15:41
  the council support families and the children and just it doesn't
• 15:47
  have to be massive amounts of money that are just supporting
• 15:50
  the voluntary group because we got some amazing volunteers in
• 15:52
  this county for this case. Sometimes we haven't got the
• 15:55
  money just to maybe buy T-shirts or like in this case, pay for
• 15:58
  the food today. So it's it's little bits of
• 16:00
  investment from the council, but it goes a long, long way.
• 16:02
  And the results are proven. You look at the, the data for
• 16:06
  employment opportunities for the children that have come through
• 16:10
  the Whitney Wolves project and now into adulthood.
• 16:13
  And now actually the their, their employability is so much
• 16:16
  higher because they're so much more, their social skills are so
• 16:19
  much better, their confidence is so much better, their
• 16:21
  interactions. So that's been delivered through
• 16:24
  rugby. So it's it's amazing the
• 16:26
  results. Yeah, the long term results are
• 16:28
  are great. And I think as a as a parent of
• 16:31
  a neo divergent child, I can only thank you for, for all your
• 16:37
  initiatives and for actually being amongst us because that's
• 16:41
  we need more of that. We do, yeah.
• 16:42
  We need as a councillor you need to understand what you're
• 16:44
  discussing in the chambers and that and you're only going to
• 16:47
  learn that by getting out of the office and going and engaging
• 16:50
  so. That's that's very good.
• 16:51
  So thank you. Anything else you would like to
• 16:54
  add? I think no.
• 16:58
  What else will I add? But yeah, I think it's just a
• 16:59
  case of working with the governing bodies as well.
• 17:02
  And I know Darren works very closely with the RFU which are
• 17:06
  very supportive, but we need to be doing more with other
• 17:08
  governing bodies is OK, this is under the the rugby umbrella,
• 17:12
  but it's just activity in general.
• 17:15
  So it's a case of what are the Football Association doing the
• 17:17
  cricket board, etcetera to all the other governing bodies,
• 17:20
  what's their policy with regards to inclusion?
• 17:22
  And because it's a big area and I think rugby almost tends to be
• 17:27
  ahead of the curve, they, they tend to lead the way.
• 17:29
  Certainly one of our conversations with the, the
• 17:32
  Rugby Football League, RFL sort of thing, they're even further
• 17:36
  down the line on there with inclusion.
• 17:38
  So this case. So there's a lot that we can
• 17:39
  already learn from existing sort of projects and then roll that
• 17:42
  out around the country. But again, it's just providing
• 17:45
  the facilities. And if it's just like the, the
• 17:47
  equipment through things like that and the rewards be through
• 17:51
  get a T-shirt through my counsellor priority fund.
• 17:54
  I've, excuse me, donated some funds to to gossip all black so
• 17:59
  they could buy sweatshirts. And that so it just, it's that
• 18:02
  sense of belonging for, for the for the children.
• 18:04
  Yeah, we're part of a club now and and they wear their shirts
• 18:07
  with pride. Regardless of of difference and
• 18:11
  I I totally agree with that. I would love to have more, more
• 18:15
  sports. We're talking about Oxford tier.
• 18:18
  But when I think about my daughter, for example, it would
• 18:21
  actually be good to have more options.
• 18:22
  And not just sports, but other activities like dancing.
• 18:28
  It's not easy to find. We know there's the local offer
• 18:32
  website. Even swimming, it's one of the
• 18:35
  things I've been looking for her, but it's either quite
• 18:37
  expensive because it's private lessons or so it's definitely.
• 18:43
  It's removing those barriers, yes.
• 18:45
  And whether they're financial barriers or just accessibility
• 18:48
  barriers in this case of there's always a way, but sometimes you
• 18:52
  have to find, it takes maybe take a year to find that
• 18:55
  solution. But in case you keep asking the
• 18:57
  questions, keep knocking on the right doors and then eventually
• 19:00
  it will suddenly fall into place.
• 19:01
  Should have done this ages ago, yes.
• 19:03
  And sometimes accessibility is not as difficult or as
• 19:06
  complicated as we no. We sometimes make it
• 19:08
  complicated, definitely. So it's finding those easy
• 19:11
  solutions and they tend to be very easy solutions at the end
• 19:14
  of the day, but we always look at it in the hardest possible
• 19:17
  way rather than the easiest. Just changing that mindset on
• 19:21
  that. Great.
• 19:24
  Thank you so much. It's.
• 19:25
  A. Pleasure to meet you and to
• 19:27
  interview you for the Neuro Diverse Voices podcast.
• 19:30
  And yeah, we'll, I'm sure we will stay in touch.
• 19:32
  Yeah. Definitely and I hope to see you
• 19:33
  at the next event next year. Yes, I'll be here or whenever it
• 19:38
  happens within the county. Thank you so much.
• 19:41
  Thank you. This is season 3 of the Neuro
• 19:44
  Diverse Voices podcast. So hi everyone.
• 19:48
  I'm still recording from Katie Fest today and I do have one of
• 19:53
  the volunteers of the San Friendly Rugby sessions on
• 19:57
  Sunday at Gosford All Blacks. Her name is Ruth and she's going
• 20:00
  to tell me a bit more about it. Hi, Ruth.
• 20:03
  Hi OK, so my husband and I volunteer at the the San rugby
• 20:09
  sessions and we found out about it one day.
• 20:11
  Was just chatting to Darren and he said he was starting it up
• 20:14
  and we decided we'd like to help.
• 20:17
  We have an older son who's 32 this year who has autism and
• 20:23
  life was very difficult. But like we all know it was a
• 20:25
  struggle with him growing up to find things for him to do and he
• 20:28
  he was really into football and played for a special needs
• 20:31
  football team which really was so helpful for him.
• 20:35
  And our middle son is a rugby player and played for Gosford
• 20:39
  All Blacks, so it seemed the perfect way to pay back to other
• 20:43
  people, you know, So we started volunteering.
• 20:46
  Yeah, that's great. And how, how do you find the
• 20:51
  session? So what, what does it give you
• 20:53
  at a personal level? I I bet it's very fulfilling to
• 20:57
  see the children progressing. And I know of some very good
• 21:01
  success stories that Darren has shared with me before.
• 21:04
  How? How does it feel to be part of
• 21:06
  such a great initiative? It's really lovely.
• 21:09
  It's just great to have something for for those people
• 21:13
  and for me personally. I mean, you know, I'm happy to,
• 21:16
  to be with the children and help them, but I'm not a, I'm not a
• 21:20
  rugby expert and I'm not particularly fit.
• 21:23
  So for me, it's more about the whole thing about the young
• 21:27
  people and the parents. So I'll be quite often chatting,
• 21:31
  which I'm not sure the coaches are always going to be happy
• 21:33
  for, but I feel like I want to give to those parents who are
• 21:36
  struggling that that encouragement and love that I
• 21:39
  know is really hard to find sometimes.
• 21:41
  And there are times when it is really a struggle.
• 21:44
  And I know that personally. So for me, for I'm on a bit of a
• 21:47
  campaign to, to feed into that as well.
• 21:50
  So the whole thing, I love being with young people.
• 21:52
  We have such fun, really progressing, making friendships,
• 21:55
  you know, learning new skills. But for me as well, it's about,
• 21:58
  about the parents and supporting them whenever I can.
• 22:02
  It's very, I feel quite passionate about it really.
• 22:05
  And parent to parent, I think we all appreciate that because it
• 22:08
  makes us feel less lonely and that, you know, someone might
• 22:13
  have their own unique experience, but it still helps
• 22:17
  you seeing things in a more positive way.
• 22:20
  Definitely. I think like every scenario is
• 22:22
  different and we and you know, we can't possibly be in that
• 22:25
  situation completely, but we can understand that the feelings and
• 22:29
  the loneliness and the heartache that it causes.
• 22:32
  And I've been talking to people this morning who just have just
• 22:34
  burst into dessions and become really struggling and I know
• 22:37
  first hand what that's like. And I said to them, and I'll say
• 22:40
  that I always think that I need to do that for me and for them,
• 22:45
  because I don't want people to struggle like we struggled, you
• 22:48
  know, and I, I think we've really moved on.
• 22:50
  I, I know that we have, but I still think there's room for
• 22:53
  that, you know, and if you've been through that same
• 22:57
  experience in a slightly different way, then you've got a
• 22:59
  much better way of being able to help them because, you know,
• 23:02
  you've lived it. So it's important, really
• 23:05
  important. To me, very much.
• 23:07
  And today is about Katie what how you're finding the day so
• 23:14
  far. It's still quite early, but what
• 23:16
  are your views on? Oh, I really enjoyed it.
• 23:19
  I mean, we got here and then and then we all joined in together
• 23:22
  and that was amazing to have all the, all the rugby clubs
• 23:25
  together, you know, training together.
• 23:28
  And also for us, you know, adults and young people to be
• 23:32
  all mixed up and enjoying each other's company and, and really
• 23:35
  getting the pleasure out of all the things we're doing.
• 23:37
  I think it's a great thing. I think it's, it's amazing.
• 23:40
  And I know at lunchtime, because we've come here before as just
• 23:45
  ours and Whitney and they've sat down to eat together and even
• 23:48
  people have said that has made such a difference to be part of
• 23:51
  a team that all sit and eat together and chat together and
• 23:53
  things. It's just, it's priceless
• 23:56
  really, isn't it? It's just priceless, yeah.
• 23:58
  Yeah, it's it's great to see and I'm very happy to to be here
• 24:02
  again and hear all these really amazing stories.
• 24:06
  Thank you, Ruth, for the interview.
• 24:08
  And yeah, we'll stay in touch. Thank you.
• 24:10
  Thanks. This is season 3 of the
• 24:13
  Neurodiverse Voices podcast. Hi everyone, Phil, it's
• 24:18
  Babyfest. Today it's Whitney Walls and
• 24:22
  with another one of my favourites and previous podcast
• 24:27
  guests, Darren, who is here too, tell me how things developed
• 24:32
  since last year. Hi Darren.
• 24:33
  Hi, Andrew, How are you? Congratulations on the House
• 24:36
  move. Thank you.
• 24:39
  Oh yeah, we've had a busy year and we've come back to our end
• 24:46
  of season. Katy Fest, same festival again.
• 24:50
  We've increased the number of teams taking part this year.
• 24:53
  We have active Oxfordshire here obviously that we've spoken
• 24:56
  about before that support us a great deal as a local charity
• 25:01
  set up and also Wooden Spin Oxfordshire as a charity here
• 25:05
  today as well. So there's there's just a lot
• 25:07
  really good feeling. We've got the sun out, we've got
• 25:10
  lots of youngsters and young adults playing rugby and and
• 25:13
  enjoying themselves. They've had the barbecue on and
• 25:16
  everybody's had hot dogs and burgers.
• 25:18
  So, so, so far it's been a really good day.
• 25:20
  Yeah, it's. So what's next?
• 25:26
  What this afternoon or long term plans?
• 25:28
  This afternoon and afternoon term plans well.
• 25:31
  We have much more tag rugby, we have small mini obstacle
• 25:34
  courses. As we get to the end of the day,
• 25:37
  we will probably get everybody together for medals and
• 25:40
  congratulations. I think somebody has planned a
• 25:44
  conga, so we'll see. We'll see how that goes as well.
• 25:47
  So yeah, it's going to be good fun.
• 25:49
  Longer term, we're going to try and speak to as many people as
• 25:53
  we can and continue to drive the impact of what what being
• 25:59
  inclusive in providing the same provision and and rugby can
• 26:02
  actually do. John Peel when he was speaking
• 26:08
  earlier on today who's was the founder of Wallingford Wolves,
• 26:14
  made the the most important point I think anybody has had
• 26:19
  that, you know, been able to provide this today.
• 26:20
  Everybody sees it as extraordinary.
• 26:23
  Our long term vision is that we want to change that so it's not
• 26:27
  seen as extraordinary. We want it to become the norm
• 26:30
  that clubs should have the same provision that, you know, these
• 26:35
  events happening just the same way they do for for children
• 26:38
  every other Sunday, become become a normal that nobody
• 26:41
  thinks it's an extra new thing. Yeah.
• 26:43
  It should be a standard, yeah. Yeah, that's great.
• 26:45
  And last year we think one of the plans was to expand send
• 26:51
  friendly rugby to other parts of the country, not just the
• 26:55
  county. And I know that we now have
• 26:58
  wooden spoon supporting and they are national.
• 27:00
  So where, where did we go? How far did we go with with that
• 27:04
  expansion? Well we had the expansion of
• 27:07
  another club, so we now have 4 clubs in Oxfordshire that are
• 27:10
  for some provision. Banbury set up almost a year
• 27:15
  ago. 11th of May is their birthday, their anniversary this
• 27:18
  year. So congratulate, I think it's
• 27:19
  the 11th. So congratulations to Banbury
• 27:23
  for that. Where do we go from here?
• 27:27
  It's just getting more people aware of what we do, the
• 27:30
  difference it makes. Spend a day at this type of
• 27:33
  event and it's probably easy to, to decide to get involved
• 27:39
  because you can start to see the difference it makes.
• 27:41
  And it's not just that that small difference on an hourly
• 27:45
  basis, it's the long term impact as well.
• 27:49
  We have data now through through Whitney with their players in
• 27:52
  their their 20s that, you know, their players have an employment
• 27:57
  rates of 50%. The the English average is
• 28:01
  somewhere around about 22% for disabled football.
• 28:05
  So are we going to put that all down to rugby?
• 28:09
  Of course not. But the, the life lessons, the
• 28:13
  increased confidence, the ability to socialize and make
• 28:16
  friends, it all has a big long term impact.
• 28:21
  And I think it's there's a lifelong lessons and that
• 28:23
  support, not just for the players, but but also for the
• 28:25
  parents, you know, that gives them a support network.
• 28:29
  Obviously you've seen yourself with Gosford, with the way the
• 28:32
  parents now have that or to be able to have a conversation and
• 28:36
  talk to each other as the kids play as well.
• 28:38
  So. So it does make a big
• 28:40
  difference. A much it's it's a bit like
• 28:42
  dropping a stone in a pond. It doesn't feel like you've done
• 28:44
  very much. But those ripples just seem to
• 28:47
  really just keep. Yeah, going out further and
• 28:50
  further, Yeah. That's great.
• 28:52
  Well, keep up with the good words, with the good work, and
• 28:55
  yeah, I hope to be back next year.
• 28:57
  Wherever look forward. To going well.
• 28:59
  I already have it on good authority that Wallingford
• 29:02
  Wolves are looking to plan it for next year.
• 29:04
  OK. Which would be great because
• 29:06
  obviously it's named after Katie Peel.
• 29:08
  He was a Wolves founding player. So that that'll as always, this
• 29:16
  event is always quite emotional for us having set it up last
• 29:19
  year. So next year certainly will will
• 29:22
  be another emotional day, but a great day of fun for everybody.
• 29:25
  Yeah, I'll be happy because it's closer to me.
• 29:27
  Yeah. Absolutely.
• 29:29
  Great. Thank you so much, Darren.
• 29:30
  You're more than welcome. Thank you.
• 29:31
  Stay in touch as always, otherwise.
• 29:34
  Yeah. All the best.
• 29:34
  Thank you. Bye.
• 29:35
  Bye.